Press release

China paint it red for second time in history

China is the 2013 U20 world champion

Brno, Czech Republic, June 30, 2013 – In front 4,000 thrilled spectators, world No. 1 China clinched their second FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship title in history with perfect 8-0 match and 24-0 set records at Kajot Arena on Sunday. The Asians rounded off a highly successful campaign by sweeping Japan 25-13, 25-17, 25-15 in the last match of the series. Their first World Champs title came back in 1995.

Japan, ranked ninth in the world, ended the final stage of the high-level competition on the second spot of the podium, the best result ever since their silver medal 1985 in Milan, Italy.

The gold medal of the Women’s U20 World Championship goes to China. It is the 11th medal for China in this age category. China beat Japan in straight sets (25-13, 25-17, 25-15), completing an outstanding series of eight 3-0 matches out of eight games played, and a 24-0 sets record that underlines the amazing performance of Jiande Xu’s team. Japan could not cope with the outstanding offense China displayed on Sunday night.

In front of 4,000 enthusiastic spectators at Kajot arena, the two teams offered a great volleyball show, with outstanding defences from both side. However, Japan could not copy the powerful China game, despite their similar playing system. Attack, pass, block, and serve: in any fundamental China was superior. Nevertheless, Japan never gave up, trying to use all their weapons they showed during their excellent FIVB 2013 Women’s World Championship campaign. Yet, they had to face the incredible power of Ting Zhu, MVP of the championship, who scored another 26 points in this match sharing the best scorer title of the event (167 points) with Brayelin Elizabeth Martinez of the Dominican Republic. Zhu eventually closed it out with an outstanding block winner that ended a fantastic Sunday night in Brno.China coach Jiande Xu: We are happy with today’s result. In terms of body height, Japan was one of the smallest teams here in Brno. However, the Japanese team played with heart and never-ending fighting spirit. China can learn a lot from them. There is no secret for China’s success in this age category. It is just hard work.Japan coach Yasuhiro Fukuda: Congratulations to China, they deserve the first place after a fantastic run here in Brno. We learned a lot during the tournament. We did not expect to go as far, but with every game we won, we grew a little bit more. At the end, it was a successful puzzle of strong defence and exceptional teamwork.

Bronze medal match

Brazil v Italy 3-0 (28-26, 25-21, 25-18)

Brazil, the only team to have participated in every edition of the FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship so far, claimed the bronze medals with a straight-set win against titleholder Italy (28-26, 25-21, 25-18). For Brazil, it is the 12th medal in 17 editions: Brazil has won 6 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals.

The first set was the most balanced of Sunday’s bronze medal match, an exciting fight that ended whit Brazil’s middle blocker Vaquiria’s block on Anna Nicoletti, closing out the set 28-26 in Brazil’s favour. Brazil kept momentum in the second set, helped by some serve errors from Italy. Rosamaria Montibeller did not fail on Brazil’s second set ball at 24-21.

The third set started with a change in Italy’s line-up: coach Davide Mazzanti sent in Alessia Fiesoli for Anna Nicoletti as opposite and Laura Melandri for captain Cristina Chirichella in the middle. At 7-12, the Italian coach changed the setters as well. However, it was already too late for the Europeans. Sara Aparecida Dias Silva, with a blistering winner from the right, ended the wonderful story at 25-18, bouncing the enthusiastic Brazilian in heaven.Brazil captain Rosamaria Montibeller: Congratulations to my team. We wanted gold, yet we are still very happy for this bronze medal.

Match for the 5th place

Turkey v Russia 3-1 (25-23, 10-25, 25-17, 25-16)

Turkey finish fifth at FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship after their 3-1 win against Russia (25-23, 10-25, 25-17, 25-16). Svetlana Savronova’s team ended the event in Brno on the 6th place. Russia still played without their libera Ekaterina Voronova, who still suffered back pain. It was a strange game, dominated by Turkey apart from the second set when Turkey completely lost momentum, while Russia played almost perfectly. However, the run lasted only 18 minutes.

The first set saw a great performance of Turkey’s Ceyda Aktas, who scored 8 attack with 50% of positivity. The second set ended with Kseniia Ilchenko and Olesya Nikolaeva as most dangerous attackers, well guided by their setter Elena Novik. Then the tide turned again and Ceyda Aktas went on with her spiking show. Russia blocked and served better than Turkey, but their positive stats by skills in this game were mainly due to their solo in the second set.The 5th place is the best result ever for Turkey in this age category, said Turkey coach Gökhan Edman. We need to be satisfied.

Match for the 7th place

Serbia v Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-22, 25-10, 25-21)

Serbia ended their world championship campaign with a 7th place, followed by Dominican Republic in 8th position. Serbia dominated the match 3-0 (25-22, 25-10, 25-21) with a team’s percentage of positive attacks of almost 50%. Roberto Rocha Wagner’s squad was not able to set up an effective defense system to control the aggressiveness of the robust Serbian play orchestrated by setter Sladjana Mirkovic, who turned out to be the best blocker of her team in this final match.

Dominican Republic used their most dangerous weapon, Brayelin Elizabeth Martinez, offering her the majority of the offensive balls. Martinez managed to score 20 points, plus one block, but that was not enough to overcome the more balanced play of Serbia, especially in the one-way second set. The Caribbean suffered as well in passing, with Serbia being able to score 11 aces until the end of the match.

Serbia coach Ratko Pavlicevic: We played well today, especially on serve and block. I cannot say we were successful here in Brno, but we lost in a tough quarterfinal against Brazil and we won against the finalist Japan. It is still a good result.

Match for the 9th place

Bulgaria v Chinese Taipei 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-20)

Bulgaria prevailed against Chinese Taipei in the fight for ninth spot at the 2013 FIVB Women's U20 World Championship. In Sunday's last match at Brno’s Vodova hall, it were the Europeans who emerged victorious in straight-sets (25-22, 25-13, 25-20). Leading Bulgaria’s scoring on the day were Dimitrova Gergana and Mira Todorova with 13 points each, many of those points coming in clutch moments. Silvana Chausheva added eight. The Asians’ leading scorer was captain Wei-Hua Wu who posted ten points in a losing effort. Wan Ling Tseng and Tzu Ya Chen charted seven and five.

Both teams finish the tournament with a 4-4 record. Even though the Bulgarians won their last three matches here in Brno, they could not satisfy expectations after their excellent fourth rank in 2009. The East Europeans missed the chance for a better position in pool play when they lost three out of four matches.

11 to 5 block winners and 7 to 3 service winners were the main reasons for Bulgaria’s win tonight.My team had the possibility to finish in the top eight, said Bulgaria coach Dimo Tonev.

Match for the 11th place

Czech Republic v Peru 3-2 (19-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 17-15)

The Czech Republic concluded their home World Championship with a solid 11th place. The Czechs reached the same position as in 2009 when they have qualified the last time for the final round. Peru finish on the 12th position after a very long match which was closed only by the 17th point of the tie break (19-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 17-15).

Peru mastered the first two sets, freezing the spectators on the stands. However, the Czech Republic started the third set with a 5-1 score and never looked back until the end of the fourth set.

The tiebreak started tight until 5-5 before Peru took the lead at 7-5. The Czechs bounced back to 12-9 with a Michaela Mlejnkova hammer down the line. The first match ball for the hosts came at 14-13 when Angela Leyva sent the Mikasa out of bounds on a free ball. Leyva answered with a blistering winner to turn the tables again, but Peru could not pull clear. Sarka Bouskova and then Michaela Mlejnkova with an ace ended the thriller in the hosts’ favour.

Czech Republic captain Lucie Herbockova: Today we played well. For the first time in this tournament we could make our coach happy.

Match for the 13th place

Colombia v Egypt 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-22)

Colombia came away with a 3-0 victory (25-13, 25-18, 25-22) against Egypt in the match for the 13-14 positions at Brno Vodova Hall on Sunday afternoon. The South Americans prevailed over a mild Egyptian team who could hardly find their rhythm. Leading the Colombian scoring were Maria Margarita Martinez and Escobar Danna with 18 points each. Egypt’s top scorer on the day was Aya Elshamy who posted 16. Colombia dominated behind the service line, scoring with ten service winners.

While thirteenth place is almost a replica for Colombia on their 1989 performance when they participated for the first and last time at Women’s U20 World Champs and finished 12th, for Egypt the 14th place confirms their results in the last decade (11th, 12th and 15th).

Colombia’s Maria Margarita Martinez ended the one-way duel with a blistering winner from the right wing.

Colombia captain Andrea Estrada: We won today but I do not feel satisfied at all. We worked hard the last four months and expected more than the 13th place.

Match for the 15th place

Mexico v Algeria 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-15)

Mexico outclassed Algeria in straight sets (25-11, 25-17, 25-15) to finish 15th at 2013 FIVB Women’s World Champs in Brno, Czech Republic. Mexico, ranked fifteenth in the world, came into the match off a 1-3 loss versus Colombia on Saturday. Algeria, ranked sixteenth, had won a single match so far at the tournament (3-2 against Nigeria during pool play).

Lizbeth Sainz was the star again for Mexico, dominating with her versatility and power game and scoring 15 points in the match. Fernanda Guitron backed her up with 11 points. Celia Bourihane, with nine, was the top scorer for Algeria who close their 2013 Women’s U20 campaign with a 1-7 record following this defeat.

Mexico's 12 aces and 14 to 28 mistakes made the difference today.

Mexico spiker Lizbeth Sainz: I am happy with our play today. I would like to thank my coach. I was successful here and it is his merit as well. I trained very hard last year and I felt that the level of my play got better every month.

Classification round 17-20

USA v Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-18)

The United States of America swept Puerto Rico 25-15, 25-22, 25-18 in their last game at 2013 FIVB Women’s U20 World Champs in Brno to claim the 17th place of the tournament. USA finish on a high note after a perfect 3-0 run in the classification round 17-20. Carlos Cruz’s charges were no match for the powerful USA, as the team ranked fifth in the world seized the initiative from the start and never looked like relinquishing it. The North Americans made full use of their strength at the net and were fired by captain Jordan Burgess – a driving force with 10 points, including 8 on attack – and the duo Alexandra Malloy/Amber Rolfzen (10 points as well). Kanisha Jimenez led the Puerto Rican resistance with 15 points, yet her side suffered the same fate as in Saturday's 0-3 reverse against Thailand.

It was a great match for us, said USA captain Jordan Burgess. We had strong contribution from many players.

Thailand v Nigeria 3-0 (25-16, 25-9, 25-11)

Thailand finish in style with their straight-set win (25-16, 25-9, 25-11) over Nigeria on the last day of the FIVB Women's U20 World Championship at Brno Vodova hall. Nataph Srisamutnak’s team were dominant from start to finish in booking their second win in the 17-20 classification round. The young Nigerians fought gamely but could not deal with the power game and experience of the Thais and lost their seventh straight match.

Thailand finish on the 18th rank while Nigeria conclude their Women’s U20 World Champs campaign on the 20th place.Thailand captain Kuttika Kaewpin: We played as a team today. I am happy that we won to get a better position in the final standings.

* * * * *

On Saturday and Sunday, the Czech Volleyball Federation welcomed almost thousands of minivolley players from all around the country to compete at the spectacular minivolley festival in Brno’s Sokol sports complex. Featuring different age categories, the future volleyball stars enjoyed a unique event. Dr. Amr Elwani, FIVB Executive Vice-President & Treasurer and Jury President of the FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship Control Committee as well as Cristóbal Marte Hoffiz, FIVB 1st Executive Vice-President, visited the happy kids on Saturday morning. Dr. Elwani and Sir Cristóbal Marte Hoffiz benefited from their visit on the courts to share some memorable moments with the young kids.

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